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R4BIA Is The End Of Zionists

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Brian Thomas
Brian of London made aliyah from the UK to Israel in 2009. For many years he has blogged and broadcast
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R4BIA Symbol of Islamic Resistance on a T-Shirt in Jerusalem’s Shuk – Phtoto: Brian of London

The symbol and it’s associated movement “R4BIA” has it’s own domain name (r4bia.com), media pack including many free-for-republication photos of it’s use and a long explanation of what R4BIA stands for.

As ever, the world of alternative media and blogs are the only place you can learn about this new phenomenon. The first and most comprehensive work is on the US site: Frontpage Mag written by Dawn Perlmutter:

The symbol allegedly originated as a four-fingered hand sign by pro-Morsi protesters during demonstrations in Egypt’s Rabia al-Adawiya Square. The hand gesture quickly evolved into an image of the hand commonly depicted in black on a bright yellow background. It is called the “R4BIA sign.” In English it is officially spelled in capital letters and the letter “A” is replaced with the number 4. It has become the symbol of the massacre of pro-Morsi supporters in Rabia al-Adawiya Square on August 14, 2013. This new sign already has its own history, legend and mysticism and it contains all the attributes that Islamists favor in their symbology, particularly martyrdom.

Yesterday the symbol was available on T-Shirts in the market in Jerusalem.

It appears on giant banners at the side of the stage for the annual rally held by Israel’s Islamic Movement. The pictures from this rally show people wearing the yellow T-Shirts with this symbol. This was a rally for and by Israeli Arabs (not those living under PA control) and it expressed support for the whole alphabet soup of Islamic terror organisations around the world. Israel’s Islamic Movement operates freely in Israel.

As is common with Islamic movements, the statement of aims for R4BIA is deceptive and mixes innocuous sounding hopes like “R4BIA is the birth of a new movement for freedom and justice” with more troublesome statements like “R4BIA is the end of Zionists”. Not the end of Zionism, the end of Zionists. In such a carefully worded statement, it’s hard to believe this is an oversight.

So now we just wait and see when the mainstream media is going to mention something this significant. It’s the simultaneous, global, world-wide launch of a new Islamic branding exercise complete with merchandising arm and slick PR campaign.

If Coca-Cola or Apple were to launch a new brand you can bet it would be news. And you can bet this new symbol will have massive recognition across the Arab world faster than you can say iPhone 5S.

R4BIA T-Shirt on display in the Jerusalem Shuk – Photo: Brian of London

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